| The presence of ENSO Events in South America is felt in two ways: a) through
its effects on both the atmosphere and ocean systems, and
b) through its impacts on natural ecosystems (both marine
and terrestrial) and on societal and economical sectors (like fisheries,
health, and agriculture).
The main effects of El Niño/La Niña are: Increment/Decrement of sea
surface temperature and salinity, Increment/Decrement of sea level and wave
activity, Increment/Decrement of air temperature and amount of ultra violet
radiation reaching the surface of the earth, and Changes in the rainfall and
evaporation patterns.
It is not easy to make an "average" pattern of ENSO impacts for a variety
of reasons: the impacts depend greatly of factors like geographical extent
and position of the oceanic anomalies, and intensity and timing of the
anomalies; also the influence of social, economic and political structures
determines whether climate anomalies caused by ENSO in a particular region
will lead to severe societal and economical impacts.
The scientific community also plays a potential role in the extent of the
impacts that ENSO can produce, if scientists can provide information on the
impact of the presence of ENSO by identifying and focusing on its
precursors, intervention could be taken early enough. There is however,
something to be said against that: information can be misleading, target
inappropriate at-risk groups, or generate a false sense of security. |